TV shuffle: Kansas on Friday, UCF on Saturday

USF's football team, already very prominent in ESPN's broadcasts this fall, picked up a fifth national TV date Tuesday with news that the home showdown against Kansas is now a Friday night ESPN2 kickoff on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.

For you Saturday-is-for-college-football purists, there's news to balance that: USF's game at Central Florida, previously slated for ESPN on Friday, Sept. 5, will now be played on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

"The change in schedule was done to accommodate an ESPN request," UCF athletic director Keith Tribble said in a statement. "We expect that this Saturday night nationally-televised meeting with USF at Bright House Networks Stadium on Sept. 6 will be an instant classic."

The Kansas game will feature two programs who were ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls in 2007. The UCF game is the last of four scheduled between the state rivals, with USF winning the first three games, including a 64-12 victory in Tampa in 2007.

The Bulls have two other 2008 games scheduled for weeknight broadcasts on ESPN, with a home game against Pittsburgh on Thursday, Oct. 2, and another Thursday game at Cincinnati on Oct. 30. USF's regular-season finale on Dec. 6 at West Virginia will either be on ESPN or ESPN2.

My question? How long before Bright House Networks Stadium shrinks its name? Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater, where this year's Big East baseball tournament will be played, is now just Bright House Field.

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